Ooo.  Lots of adult books with smatterings of children’s literature littered about the pages today.  Don’t even know where to start with this one.  Let’s see, eeny meeny miney . . . MO!

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books by Christine Woodside

This is the most interesting of the batch in many ways.  This year saw the publication of the book The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, published by editor William Anderson.  I know these letters well since Jules Danielson and I used them for our book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature.  Yet little did I know that the story of Rose Wilder was far more interesting than the degree to which she wrote the Little House books herself or whether or not she could swear like a sailor (she could).  Listen to this part of the description:

“Rose hated farming and fled the family homestead as an adolescent, eventually becoming a nationally prominent magazine writer, biographer of Herbert Hoover, and successful novelist, who shared the political values of Ayn Rand and became mentor to Roger Lea MacBride, the second Libertarian presidential candidate. Drawing on original manuscripts and letters, Woodside shows how Rose reshaped her mother’s story into a series of heroic tales that rebutted the policies of the New Deal.“

Nope.  Didn’t know that one!

Lois Lenski: Storycatcher by Bobbie Malone

Sometimes a book gets published and I sit in my library and think, “Is anyone else in the entire world going to really read and enjoy this besides me?” Then, after a moment, I’ll get a crazed look in my eye, stand up at my desk, and scream, “THEN I SHALL MAKE THEM ENJOY IT!!!!”  Little wonder my desk is sequestered at the end of my floor, far from my cowering co-workers.  This Lenski bio may have a limited built-in audience but for Newbery die-hards (Strawberry Girl fans, are you with me?) this is a must.  Plus I really like the central conceit involving inherent class structures.  Says the description: “Lenski turned her extensive study of hardworking families into books that accurately and movingly depicted the lives of the children of sharecroppers, coal miners, and migrant field workers.”  Now somebody out there write me a comparative study looking at how Kate DiCamillo has done similar work with working class people in Florida, with a good compare and contrast of the two award winning authors’ work.  And . . . go.

Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Lesley M.M. Blume

Okay.  You’ll bite.  What’s the children’s literature connection here?  Is it the fact that the book’s about Hemingway and we know that his grandson Eddie Hemingway makes picture books?  Is there going to be a revelation in the book that Hemingway based The Sun Also Rises on The Velveteen Rabbit (think about it . . . no, wait, don’t)?  No, it’s a lot simpler than that.  Its author, Lesley M.M. Blume, has made a veritable plethora of children’s books over the years.  My personal favorite was her Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties: A Practical Guide by Miss Edythe McFate.  Now she’s getting stellar reviews on the adult side of things.  Bully for her, says I!  Well done!

Love From Boy: Roald Dahl’s Letters to His Mother by Donald Sturrock

What We Know: 2016 marks 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl.

What That Means: Lots o’ books about Dahl.  Some covering areas we’ve seen before.  Others traipsing into new territory.  I certainly haven’t seen this one before and as the mom of a 2-year-old boy it gets frighteningly close to teary-eyed territory.  I also love this part of the book’s description: “Sofie Magdalene kept every letter her son wrote to her (sadly, her own side of the correspondence did not survive).”  Tsk.  Ain’t that like a boy.

The Best “Worst President” by Mark Hannah, ill. Bob Staake

Bob Staake cover and interior art.  Nuff said.

Walking with Ramona: Exploring Beverly Cleary’s Portland by Laura O. Foster

One of my catalogers came up to me the other day, book in hand.  Baker & Taylor has cataloged this book as 813.54 (literary stuff) but the book is clearly (Cleary-ly?) a travelogue.  Indeed, open it up and you get a whole mess of delightful Portland, Oregon haunts.  Where the HECK was this book when I was moving there, all those years ago?  I would have lapped it up.  As it stands, it’s really very delightful.  Those of you planning to move there, or have friends or kids moving there, grab this thing.  Like I say – Ramona invented the original Portlandia.

In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant, Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary

 Hold the phone. Now hand the phone to me.  Someone else besides Leonard Marcus has written a biography of Margaret Wise Brown?  Who is this Amy Gary type personage?  Sez the description: “In 1990, author Amy Gary discovered unpublished manuscripts, songs, personal letters, and diaries from Margaret tucked away in a trunk in the attic of Margaret’s sister’s barn. Since then, Gary has pored over these works and with this unique insight in to Margaret’s world she chronicles her rise in the literary world . . . Amy Gary has cataloged, edited, and researched all of Margaret’s writings for the last twenty-five years.”

Oh.  There you go then.

Okay.  One more.

Looking for Betty MacDonald: The Egg, the Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and I by Paula Becker-Brown

For whatever reason I feel like this is slightly more accessible than the Lois Lenski book.  Probably because MacDonald had a career outside of children’s literature occasionally.  “Readers embraced her memoir of her years as a young bride operating a chicken ranch on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and The Egg and I sold its first million copies in less than a year. The public was drawn to MacDonald’s vivacity, her offbeat humor, and her irreverent take on life. In 1947, the book was made into a movie starring Fred MacMurray and Claudette Colbert, and spawned a series of films featuring MacDonald’s Ma and Pa Kettle characters.” Piggle-Wiggle is what she’ll go down in history for, but it’s nice to see another side of her as well.  Could have put a little more work into that book jacket, though.  Seriously, University of Washington Press.  You weren’t even trying.

Chris Sebela is everywhere. I first became aware of him thanks to the Everest crime thriller High Crimes from Monkey Brain, and since then he has worked with an array of publishers from Marvel to DC to Image to Dark Horse and, recently, with Oni Press and Boom! Studios for his latest creator-owned series. I talked to Chris about […]

Wizard World Portland gets the Time Lord treatment in an exclusive variant cover for the upcoming show in February.

Attention good Samaritans: a small Portland based hybrid cafe and comic book store needs your help to re-open after a vandal raided and robbed the shop. Adam Pool, The Spirtely Bean co-owner, and his wife launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $5,000 so they can replace damaged equipment, fix the store front, and to help […]

It’s Monday.  The work week has just begun.  That means it’s time to start making weekend plans.  If you’re in Portland, OR, you can get an early start to the debauchery by joining Ed Luce at Floating World Comics from 6PM-8PM on Thursday, June 4th to celebrate the launch of his Fantagraphics book, Wuvable Oaf.

The volume collects Luce’s story of an ex-wrestler named Oaf, who lives in San Francisco with an incomprehensible number of cats.  Oaf falls for a singer named Eiffel and Luce celebrates San Francisco’s queer community and music scene through the romantic story of these two men.

Oregon journalist Melanie Burke provides a closer look at the event below:

In addition to exclusive bookplates, the launch party will feature an exhibit of Luce’s work, including hand-drawn originals. Floating World owner Jason Leivian says that he hopes to draw in some of the First Thursday crowd, a once-a-month event that encourages residents to explore Portland’s art scene, and that they will see something they weren’t expecting.

“Portland, of all cities, gets what I’m doing on a sort of across the board level,” says Luce. “Especially [Floating World]. There’ll be quite a few original pieces in that show and they’re kind of like the last hold outs of my pen-to-paper years—I work almost exclusively digitally now.”

Luce will be signing during the event and copies of Wuvable Oaf will be available for purchase.

The Linguistics Society of America’s Annual Conference will take place from Thursday, 8 January-Sunday, 11 January at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in Portland, Oregon. This meeting will bring together linguists from all over the world for a weekend filled with presentations, films, mini-courses, panels, and more.

If you’re looking for fun places to check out in Portland before and/or after the conference, look no further. In order to get the scoop on the best places to check out in Portland, I checked in with our resident Portland expert Jenny Catchings, the newest addition to our Academic/Trade Marketing Team. Before she moved to New York, Jenny lived in Portland for three years, and she’s ready to share a local’s guide to the “The City of Roses.”

It’s going to be a great weekend in Portland and we can’t wait to see you there — be sure to come visit us at the Oxford University Press Booth (#3) in the Exhibit Hall!

Featured image: “Point Me At The Sky” by Ian Sane. CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

The post Exploring the best of Portland, Oregon during LSA 2015 Conference appeared first on OUPblog.

        

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It has been a CRAZY summer! I am REALLY behind on posting here.

I went to Portland in July for ICON the illustration conference and just got back from 2 weeks in Romania. I am now digging out from under a TON of work.

So, enjoy these ICON and Portland sketches.

ICON was a great time. I met a lot of cool artists and got to visit LAIKA studios.

I do wish they had a set up that involved smaller groups rather than a lecture hall for all the presentations one after the other. I know there are a lot of challenges putting up an event like this, but there was an impersonal, lecture hall freshmen 101 feeling to it that would have probably been helped by everyone picking 3 or 4 smaller sessions a day to see.

It would have also been less overwhelming.

The speakers were very good for the most part; there was just a fatigue that set in when you watched so many in a day.

The workshops were set up more in that way and were excellent.

More soon!

 

Chinese Gardens

During my visit to Portland last week, my friend Ron took me to several Beverly Clearly sites he knew I’d want to see. Didn’t have to travel far to Klickitat Street, and found a geocache there, which delighted me (and, when I got home and told them, my children). We drove by Beverly Cleary’s childhood home, and the nearby elementary school which now bears her name. Between them was a busy intersection where I imagined Henry Huggins performing his stalwart crossing-guard duties.

Then we wandered over to Grant Park, where the statues are.

Ramona

Henry

Ribsy

Poor Beezus! No statue!

There’s a geocache nearby named after the statues, but we couldn’t find it, despite a diligent hunt. I guess I’ll have to leave it to my kids when I take them to this site someday.

Karen E., naturally I thought of you and your Ramona the whole time. Perhaps our next family meetup should be in the Portland?

Portland is recycling food waste curb side now, which means with all the other recycling (plus plastic grocery bags are now banned) we hardly throw anything away.

And we feel oddly guilty when we do. Like Teen had a scrap of cloth and asked it there was some way we could recycle it. Which reminded her of this video from Portlandia (a really funny show that is actually fairly accurate in how it skewers Portland):



Portland is very popular these days, what with Portlandia, Grim, and Leverage, which has long been filmed in Portland (doubling for Boston, for some reason) is now openly going to take place here.

I'm agitated today. Mayor Sam Adams of Portland has given Occupy Portland a deadline to vacate the two parks (across the street from each other) where they have been encamped. They have until 12:01am 11/12/11. What will happen? Is the protest supposed to end? We all know that is not going to happen. What are the alternatives? Are we supposed to imagine that rich benefactors will provide safe haven indoors for protestors to encamp for the winter where Portland Police will not have to watch over them? Who is provoking whom here? What is happening in other cities right now? What are the words being shared in the inner sanctums on both sides? I so want to know!

It’s been an eventful couple of days: earthquakes! hurricanes!  But even Mother Nature can’t put a stop to Book Birthdays!  Today is the birthday for WILDWOOD by Colin Meloy (of Decemberists’ fame) and illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis.  We’re so thrilled that it’s out there for everyone to read now!

Check out the reviews:

“Meloy has an immediately recognizable verbal style and creates a fully realized fantasy world…. Ellis’s illustrations perfectly capture the original world and contribute to the feel of an instant timeless classic.” ~ School Library Journal (starred review)

“Fantasy lovers of all ages will be enthralled by fast-moving plot lines, evocative descriptions, and smart, snappy dialogue.” ~ VOYA (5P, 5Q)

“A satisfying blend of fantasy, adventure story, eco-fable and political satire with broad appeal; especially recommended for preteen boys.” ~ Kirkus

Interested in teaching WILDWOOD in your classroom?  The discussion guide is here to help, and you can read the first four chapters here!

Get to know Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis:

And take a look at the book trailer to whet your appetite:

Happy publication day to WILDWOOD!

I love IFC's Portlandia, which throughly (but more-or-less accurately) mocks Portland.

Saw this in today's Oregonian: "Fiction -- well, satire -- meets reality when Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein -- who portray a pair of humor-impaired feminist bookstore clerks on their show, "Portlandia" -- turn up at In Other Words for a fundraiser. The "Portlandia" sequences were filmed at the Northeast Portland bookstore, and Armisen and Brownstein are helping raise money for the bookstore by auctioning off such items as a walk-on role in the currently filming season two of "Portlandia"; tickets to see Brownstein's band, Wild Flag; a voicemail greeting from Armisen, and more. 6:30 p.m., Saturday; $20 for current bookstore "sustainers" and volunteers, $40 for non-sustainers; In Other Words, 14 N.E. Killingsworth St.;inotherwords.org."

As the New York Times says:

The first episode of “Portlandia,” a new television show that pokes at this Northwest confection’s urban preciousness, includes a scene in which a couple at a restaurant interrogates a waitress about the quality of the life lived by a chicken they hope to order.

The couple soon learns that the bird was raised locally on sheep’s milk, soy and hazelnuts, and that it had a name, Colin.

“He looks like a happy little guy who runs around,” says the character played by Fred Armisen, a Saturday Night Live star and a creator of “Portlandia,” when he is shown a photograph of a pre-plucked version of the bird. “A lot of friends?”

That does, for better or worse, sound a lot like the Portland I live in. As does this video:

You can read the whole NYT story here.

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

Drawn mega-pal Meg Hunt has posted a gorgeous short video of her solo show, Cosmic Forest, currently up at Portland’s Land Gallery. I had the great fortune of seeing the show in-person last weekend, and… well, it’s hard not to gush over a friend’s work anyway, but this show truly is superb. Meg’s linework and drybrush and colors (the colors!) and the tantalizing tease of a narrative that drifts across the collection of work is just awesome.

If you’re in Portland or nearby, make the trip before the show comes down! If you’re too far to see it with your eyeballs, don’t miss Meg’s Flickr set, linked below.

paperalligator:

Okay! So it’s a lovely Friday in Portland and one week later, I have lots of documentation from Cosmic Forest, including the video above. Again, all this stuff was shot by my awesome intern, and it’s a lot of fun to see stuff in motion. If nothing else, it was a perfect summer show.

Portland is pretty cool, according to Cooking Light magazine. But it's kind of hard to believe they forgot the beer. Portland is known as Beevrana and there are bumper stickers that say "Keep Portland Beered." And what about Stumptown Coffee? And you could do a whole magazine on the food carts alone...

Here in Portland, it seems to be perpetually March. One gray rainy day after another. I'm a native Oregonian, but I can't take it anymore.

‎"I began to forget when it hadn't been raining and became as one with all the characters in all of the novels about rainy seasons, who rush about banging their heads against the walls and drinking water glasses of straight whiskey and moaning, 'The rain! The rain! My God, the rain!'"
-Betty Smith, "The Egg and I"

It was so much fun to follow favorite artists as they worked on their Sketchbook Projects last year. I can hardly wait until I get to see their books in person. For a long weekend at the end of March and beginning of April, the Sketchbook Project comes to Portland, Maine's Space Gallery. It's a fairly small venue, and I heard the Brooklyn opening was absolutely packed, so I hope that traveling with a group of friends will let me get my hands on the following artist's books:
Kathy Weller
Jannie 'Chickengirl' Ho
Ann Marie Piantedosi
Crystal Driedger
Elizabeth Caldwell
Laura Zarrin
Kelly Medina

chriskalani:

10 years of Portland Mercury covers @ Powells

I would love to have seen this exhibit. Congrats to Portland Mercury on 10 years!

There’s two ways to portray Portland onscreen. One way is represented by the new show, Perfect Couples. As a story in the Oregonian explains:
===
“As for Portland, producers are buying stock footage of the city for use in establishing shots. "Portland feels modern, laid-back and cool," Ackerman said. "There's something about young couples in a setting like that that just felt right to us....Ackerman said if "Perfect Couples" lasts long enough, more Portland references will be incorporated in future episodes.

"Over time, the more we commit to the details, the more it's going to give us specificity," he said. "And specificity gives you awesome stuff. It puts you in a place."

Silveri has his own plans for celebrating a second season if "Perfect Couples" is successful.

"When people win Super Bowls, they say they're going to Disneyland," he notes. "If we get our second-year pickup, we're going to Portland."
==

Then there’s the second way, as shown by the new IFC show, Portlandia. As the New York Times says:
===
“The first episode of “Portlandia,” a new television show that pokes at this Northwest confection’s urban preciousness, includes a scene in which a couple at a restaurant interrogates a waitress about the quality of the life lived by a chicken they hope to order.

The couple soon learns that the bird was raised locally on sheep’s milk, soy and hazelnuts, and that it had a name, Colin.

“He looks like a happy little guy who runs around,” says the character played by Fred Armisen, a Saturday Night Live star and a creator of “Portlandia,” when he is shown a photograph of a pre-plucked version of the bird. “A lot of friends?”
===

That does, for better or worse, sound a lot like the Portland I live in. As does this video:



You can read the whole NYT story here.

Every year, America’s most literate cities are ranked (according to newspapers, bookstores, magazines, education, libraries and the Internet). Portland is always in the top 10 (or 10ish). This year, Flavorwire looked at the top 10 and what books each resident should read.

For Pittsburgh, it would be Mysteries of Pittsburgh: A Novel (P.S.). I met Michael Chabon 20 years ago (how time flies!) back when I was just impressed to even be in the same room with someone who was published. (This event looms large in my life - not so large in his.)

And for Portland it would be Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love: A Novel. I met her at Wordstock in 2009. She said she was an admirer of mine. I have no idea what that meant - it could even have referred to my newspaper reviews - but the for the next two weeks I walked around on a cloud.

See all 10 cities and books here.

Sprout (2005)

Remarkably eerie, yet beautiful painting by Portland based artist Josh Keyes. Keyes depicts a multi-faceted landscape where the creatures are left to adapt to new and often unsustainable environments.

Keyes’ work foretells what may happen to our planet’s creatures in the future, and conjures up many feelings, ranging from fear and helplessness to wonder and awe. To see more of his work, visit his website.

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Portland based illustrators, Aaron Piland and Ayumi Kajikawa Piland, are the dynamic husband-wife duo behind APAK. This particular work, created for Tinlark’s 3rd Anniversary Show, nicely juxtaposes a geometric structure against the lush organic blue and green forms. Their work is very much a fantasy, with mythical creatures and animals coexisting in a dreamy imaginative world.

APAK paints with gouache and acrylic over wood, for a nice natural effect. I love their use of bright colors and cheerful images. They have a beautiful collection of work, including tiny sculptures and dioramas, that really resonate feelings of joy and wonder. To see more of their work, check out their website.

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Vintage kids book Mi Diccionario is in the Grain Edit Shop

Grain Edit recommends Colo Pro A font designed by Font Fabric. Check it out here.

©2009 Grain Edit - catch us on Facebook and twitter

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25. Heading to Portland for PLA?

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By: Jessamyn West, on 3/19/2010
Blog: librarian.net (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  events, travel, pla, youtube, portland, Add a tag

Library students Turner Masland, Rebecca Chernay, Amy Frazier and Serenity Ibsen have made a delightful video The Visiting Librarian’s Guide to Portland. Donut and coffee suggestions and a lively soundtrack. And remember: Couch Street is pronounced “cooch.” Aaron Schmidt has also written a Walking Guide to Portland that is useful and the PLA Blog has a list of Portland libraries in case you’re like me and like to visit local libraries while you’re out and about.

2 Comments on Heading to Portland for PLA?, last added: 3/21/2010

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Kevin said, on 3/20/2010 5:55:00 PM

May I also suggest Food Carts Portland and Portland Beer. For those librarians who may enjoy food, or beer.

Kelly said, on 3/20/2010 7:06:00 PM

I also recommend the Zinester’s Guide to Portland: http://pdxguide.org/

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